18 CLASSIC TRAINS FALL 2019
AS AMERICA ENTERED WORLD WAR II, few
railroads had locomotives comparable to the Santa
Fe’s, such was the performance of three groups of en-
gines the road received from Baldwin beginning in
1938: the 3765- and 3776-class 4-8-4s, and the 5001-
class 2-10-4s. When war came, AT&SF acquired simi-
lar (albeit heavier, because of materials restrictions)
examples of both types. With their classic lines, 80-
inch drivers, and stack extensions raised, the 30 2900-
class 4-8-4s of 1943–44 made an imposing profile.
Considered dual-service in deference to a general
prohibition on passenger-only power, they could
cover the 1,765 miles between Kansas City and Los
Angeles and handle the twisting 3 percent of Raton
Pass. Six 2900s were saved, and one, No. 2926, is un-
dergoing restoration in Albuquerque, N.Mex. [see
page 89].
Meanwhile, by 1944 Santa Fe was squarely in the
diesel era, with scores of EMD FTs working mostly
between Winslow, Ariz., and Barstow, Calif. But as
traffic peaked, WPB restrictions on diesels sent the
railroad back to its greatest achievement in steam, its
5001-class 2-10-4s, the most powerful two-cylinder
engines ever built. Their 93,000 pounds of tractive
force and 5,600 drawbar horsepower nearly equaled
several late-model articulated engines, and their 74-
inch drivers were the tallest under any 2-10-4. The
25 5011-class engines of 1944 looked like their pre-
decessors, but added roller bearings throughout,
lightweight rods, and heavier carbon-steel boilers.
The new engines helped Santa Fe push ton-miles per
road-mile to 31.71 million in 1944, a whopping 340
percent increase over 1939’s figure.
Santa Fe 2925, one of the ten 1944-built 2900-class
engines, leaves Belen, N.Mex., with train 1, the Scout, on
January 12, 1947. Wartime material restrictions made the
2900s the heaviest of all 4-8-4s.Otto Perry